Kabindra Purkayastha

Kabindra Purkayastha (15 December 1931 – 7 January 2026) was an Indian politician who was union minister of state. He served as minister of state for communication in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1998 to 1999. He was a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam, India.

His son Kanad Purkayastha is a current Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Assam.

Early life Purkayastha was born on 15 December 1931 in Kamarkhal in Sylhet district (now in Bangladesh). He studied M.A. at Gauhati University. He also worked as the Principal of Ramkrishna Vidyapeeth of Sribhumi.

Political career Purkayastha joined RSS in 1950 and held various positions in the organisation. He was instrumental in spreading the ideology of RSS in the Northeast, joined BJP in 1980 as one of the founder members of the party. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1991 from Silchar constituency in Assam. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 from the same constituency. In 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, defeating heavyweight candidates Santosh Mohan Dev of INC and Badruddin Ajmal of AUDF from Silchar. But in the 2014 LS-election, he was defeated by Sushmita Dev (INC), daughter of Santosh Mohan Dev, despite the Modi-wave in his favour. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in September 2024 for his contribution to social life. He was also known as the Patriarch of the Bharatiya Janata Party - Assam.

Death Purkayastha died on 7 January 2026, at the age of 94.